Sunday, November 13, 2016

Pentagon Tour

We took a tour of the Pentagon this week. You have to schedule the tour at least two weeks in advance for them to complete a background check to approve you for the tour.

The kids decided to hold a press conference.

The 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon.

We expected to be able to see some of the offices inside the Pentagon and get a better feel for what people do there; didn't get to see that side of it. We got there, went through security and then got assigned to a Lance Corporal in the Marine Corps who (all dressed in uniform) took us around. We walked through a section that looked alot like the Sequoia Mall, some clothing shops, chocolate shops, etc. There were escalators, and we went all the way to the center of the building, where there is a park in the center. We weren't allowed to take any pictures, of course. We walked through halls with quilts displayed - they had been made and sent after the 9/11 tragedy. We went into a chapel with displays of the Purple Heart award and medal of Freedom award, along with albums filled with pictures of the people who died in the building and plane that day. In the center park area, people in uniform don't have to wear hats (covers) or salute each other. We walked through a food court that looked just like a mall foodcourt, with lots of fast food junky food places. Our tour guide was like, 'yeah, they're really concerned about our health here, haha'. I do think we saw a couple of smoothie places or whatever as well. But then, that was it! It was a mile and a half walk through the Pentagon public areas, then we walked outside around the side to the memorial site where the plane went in.